'Sorry' note left by UPS driver who ran over Bellingham family's dog

A Bellingham woman is pleading for more training for UPS drivers after her dog was hit and killed last Thursday.

Author:
Eric Wilkinson

Published:
5:07 PM PDT April 14, 2017

Updated:
5:52 PM PDT April 14, 2017

A Bellingham woman is pleading for more training for UPS drivers after her dog was hit and killed last Thursday.

A UPS driver left a note for the Wakelin family apologizing for running over their dog Toby while he was backing out of their driveway on their four-acre property near Lake Samish.

No one was home when the dog was killed.

According to the note, after hitting the dog, he picked it up from the driveway and set it aside behind some trees. He then left the note on the front door. It read, “Sorry. I backed over Toby. He’s dead over by where I turn around. I didn’t see him behind me. Sorry.”

The driver did not call the family even though there was a phone number on the dog’s collar. There was also a phone number on the package he was delivering.

UPS said it is their policy in cases like this to "knock on the door and if no one is home to leave a note."

“Who does something like that?” asked a tearful Cynthia. “UPS needs to educate their drivers about how to do the right thing. It’s about more than delivering packages.”

In a statement to KING 5, UPS said they apologized to the customer for the "unfortunate incident."

"The driver involved has been disciplined and the company will make a goodwill payment to the customer," UPS said in the statement.

A UPS spokesperson would not specify why the driver was disciplined since he followed protocol. However, he did say the driver failed to notify his manager about the incident until the next day.

The driver's manager did visit the Wakelin’s home after learning about what happened and offered his condolences.

“He was really upset that it was handled this way,” said Cynthia. “He felt really bad because he is a dog owner, too.”

There have been at least two other incidents across the country in recent years where a UPS driver killed a dog and then left a note.